Saturday, 30 December 2006

If you look closely at the two photos at the top you will see a dolphin jumping in front of the ship (double-click on the photos). The two bottom photos are of the surfers at the beach this morning.

It was quite a bit cooler this morning – 56F (13C) , cloudy with a dark sky looking like rain so I set out to walk around town.

This morning we went out to see if we could find something worth photographing in the cloudy weather. We wound up going to the south jetty. A ship was just going by with more dolphins jumping in front of it. There were also surfers out en masse. Pretty good surfing waves today! After that we stopped for fuel, the first time since December 5th then on to RobertsPointPark where Gordon photographed the herons. I was able to keep myself from taking more pictures of herons but probably just for today. Then as we were both hungry, we stopped at a little Mexican restaurant in a strip mall that’s very close to us called ‘Cancun’. There was a lot of food and it was pretty good. After that I decided I needed to walk so set out to take in three of the shops that are near the RV park. Didn’t buy anything. I had picked up some postcards but no one wanted to wait on me so I left them and left the store!

I had a long nap this afternoon and Gordon went out and took photos of a beautiful sunset. Check out his photos here.

Friday, 29 December 2006

This is part of the sign outside the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce -a lot of fishing goes on around here

This 'Old Salt' stands outside the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce building all decked out for the holidaysThese photos were taken on Christmas Day.

The temperature was right this morning for walking – 67F (19C) but it was cloudy and as I was getting up I heard raindrops on the roof so decided just to walk around the park which I did for 20 minutes. I had just come inside when a squall hit. It was a brief squall but I would have gotten wet if I hadn’t been very close to our RV.

The plan for today had been to drive into Corpus Christi so I could go mall shopping and Gordon could go downtown and take photos, however since the weather forecast is for rain, thunderstorms and the possibility of hail, we elected to wait until another day. Those conditions don’t make for very good photos.

Since we were staying home, I defrosted the refrigerator, a job which I keep putting off. It only takes about an hour. I’m not sure why I put it off. I think I feel like I’m constantly on vacation so why should I do any housework? That being said, I wiped down all the wood in the kitchen, dining room and living room with some pledge wipes that I bought at Dollar Tree the other day. Still have the bathroom and bedroom to do.

The rest of the day I spent reading and napping and doing word puzzles. Not the most exciting of days!

We went out for sunset to take photos at Charlie's Pasture which is just a short drive from the RV park. There was also a ship going by and the dolphins were jumping in front of the ship as usual. Does anyone know why dolphins do this?

The temperature did reach 76F (24C). We had showers and then some sun, then some cloud and so on for the day. Luckily no thunderstorms or hail at least as of this posting.

Thursday, 28 December 2006

This morning was 65F (18C) and partly cloudy for my walk to RobertsPointPark. Just as I got there I saw a couple of fishermen and a whole flock of pelicans, maybe 30 or 40 and they were doing kamikaze dives into the water for fish. It was really cute to watch them.After lunch I headed over to the local IGA to pick up a few items. When I got back Gordon and I went for a walk to RobertsPointPark. We saw a couple of cormorants and a couple of dolphins in the channel but there were a lot of people fishing so not that many birds. When we came home, I sat outside again for a while. The temperature reached 75F (24C) but it was partly cloudy this afternoon.

Wednesday, 27 December 2006

Today was another beautiful sunny, bright day with no wind. It was only 49F (9C) when I set out for my walk but with the sun it felt much warmer. By the time I got back, the temperature had risen to 55F (13C). When I left the RV the air that kind of fishy, salty smell, just like the islands.

I sat outside for five hours today reading and doing word puzzles. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature reached 70F (21C). Luckily they have a pretty good exchange library here at the campground so I picked up five more books to read.

Nothing planned for tonight other than TV.

I took a photo of this Christmas decoration in honour of my friend, Mike who has always liked Garfield

This ship is called the "Texas Treasure"-it's a floating casino and it's home base is across Redfish Bay from where we are located

Tuesday, 26 December 2006

We went out last night to look at the Christmas lights. There were a few around but not nearly as many as there usually are at home in the Ottawa/Kanata area. We got back too late to go for a walk with Diane.

It was only 46F (8C) when I started out for my walk this morning but it was bright and sunny with no wind so it was quite warm. I had dressed for it to be much colder. The park and marina were much busier this morning but I still saw six herons on my walk and two of them were having a fight, pictured below.

It was such a beautiful sunny day I sat outside a couple of times during the day but needed an extra sweater. It’s about 10 degrees cooler than I would like and we topped out at 62F (17C). This afternoon we took a drive back to MustangIslandState Park so I could walk on the beach. I really like it there, too bad the showers are so grungy.

Monday, 25 December 2006

This is our table at the potluck. You can just see Gordon's forehead down at the end on the right.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I woke up to 49F (9C) and cloudy weather. I headed over to RobertsPointPark for my walk. There was no one around, consequently lots of birds. I counted 12 blue heron and numerous cormorants, pelicans and seagulls. I even saw a couple of turkey vultures. There were all kinds of dolphins doing their little dance in the channel. Quite a treat for my Christmas morning walk!

Our potluck went well but it didn’t have all that much that Gordon could eat. By the time we got up to eat (our row was last) all the mashed potatoes were gone but he said he got enough although this was not his favourite potluck that we’ve had since we started RVing.

Tonight I called my sister’s house in Ottawa as that was where the family was gathered for Christmas. I got to talk to Nick and then went on speaker phone and talked to everyone else. There’s no snow in Ottawa for Christmas which is a bummer for some people.

The plan for the rest of the evening is to take a drive around Port Aransas and see the Christmas lights, then probably watch TV. If it’s not too windy, I might go for a walk with the lady that I met from Madoc, Ontario.

Sunday, 24 December 2006

The gale force winds and heavy rains continued through the night. It was still windy this morning but not as bad as during the night. I walked around the neighbourhood and in the park and there were lots of TV dishes and Christmas trees that had been blown over. Apparently ours went out of skew but didn’t blow over. It was only 49F (9C) this morning and I got up a little later than usual mostly because the wind and rain kept me awake during the night. There were all kinds of things going bump in the night!

Dumping the tanks was an ordeal. The sewer connection is at the very back of the rig and our sewage outlet is near the front. Even with our two sewer hoses together it was almost a stretch to reach the connection. Don’t know why they don’t put the sewer half way up, that way it would be easy for those whose connections are at the back or at the front. DUH!

I made Sweet & Sour Beans this afternoon from a recipe I got from a fellow fulltimer at rvdreams.com. This will be our contribution to tomorrow’s Christmas potluck. It’s very similar to my Calico Beans so I’m anxious to see how it tastes.

I think our high today was about 54F (12C). It was cloudy all day with some rain but the wind did subside around noon.